Election night at Manuel’s + The Colonnade nears 100
Tuesday, Nov. 3 — You don’t need me to remind you that today is Election Day. If you have a smartphone, you’ve been receiving text messages and phone calls for weeks urging you to vote, among other action items, like donating to various candidate campaigns. Most of us will be glad when that part of election season is over.
🗳️ But for newsrooms like Rough Draft Atlanta, Election Day is our Super Bowl and something we prepare for weeks in advance. Our reporters have been up and at it since before the polls opened today and will be doing the Lord’s work monitoring the returns well into the night.
We’re not alone in loving election night. Many political junkies make their way to places like Manuel’s Tavern in Poncey-Highland to commune with kindred spirits and watch election results throughout the evening. I wrote about Manuel’s during the 2024 election and how it became associated with Georgia politics. I’m resharing that story below. And keep updated on the latest local and statewide Election Day news and race results online at Rough Draft.
💯 Also in today’s “Family Meal,” you’ll find a story on beloved Southern restaurant The Colonnade receiving a 100th anniversary proclamation from the Atlanta City Council.
Finally, forget pumpkin spice anything. Give me a pumpkin sage julep (PSJ). Luckily, Peachtree City Italian restaurant Bicicletta shared its recipe for a PSJ.
🍸 Beth
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Manuel’s Tavern: Atlanta’s Election Night Hot Spot
🏛️ For both professional and amateur politicos in Atlanta, there’s no place like Manuel’s Tavern on election night.
Gathering at Manuel’s to watch the election returns come in started back in the 1970s with the late Manuel Maloof. The Poncey-Highland restaurant and bar’s founder served as the DeKalb County commission chairman, then its first CEO. Many considered Maloof the “godfather” of Georgia Democrats.
🍻Manuel’s soon became a stop for presidents like Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama, who popped in for a beer, a round of darts, and a chat with everyday citizens. A symbiotic relationship formed at Manuel’s between journalists hanging out at the bar sniffing around for stories and politicians conspicuously grabbing a meal or rolling up their shirt sleeves to casually stump for votes in Atlanta.
After seven decades in business, the Poncey-Highland watering hole is now considered the city’s unofficial Election Day hub – a civic institution where hundreds of people gather throughout the year for political debates, low-key campaign rallies, or to watch the returns on election night.
👉 Read my 2024 feature story on Election Night at Manuel’s here.
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Cheers to 100 Years of The Colonnade
🍗 The Colonnade received a proclamation ahead of its 100th anniversary during the Nov. 2 Atlanta City Council meeting. The beloved Southern restaurant on Cheshire Bridge will officially turn 100 years old in 2027. Among Atlanta restaurants still operating, only Atkins Park in Virginia-Highland, which opened in 1922, is older.
City Councilmember Alex Wan presented the proclamation, calling the Cheshire Bridge Road restaurant “a legend, an institution, and a City of Atlanta treasure.”
“The Colonnade is known for its clientele of the gays and the grays,” Wan said about the restaurant’s popularity with the LGBTQ+ community and senior citizens. He then described The Colonnade as a gathering spot for the community, pointing out how rare it is these days for a restaurant to stay in business for a century.
📜 Read more about the 100th anniversary proclamation here.
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Pumpkin Sage Julep Recipe
🥃 This week, we’re sharing a recipe for the pumpkin sage julep from Bicicletta. It’s currently available as a limited-time, off-menu drink at the Peachtree City Italian restaurant.
The home bar recipe includes step-by-step directions for making pumpkin-infused rye, along with dark demerara syrup in advance. Pro tip: give yourself a few days to infuse the rye, starting with a test batch.
🍁 Get the full cocktail recipe here.
➡️ Get double the Atlanta food and dining coverage with “Family Meal,” edited by Beth McKibben, on Tuesdays at 5 p.m., and “Side Dish,” edited by Sarra Sedghi, on Thursdays at noon. Subscribe to both here.
